Methods of manufacturing silicon-on-insulator (“SOI”) wafers are generally known in the semiconductor industry. These wafers can include, for example, an insulator layer of silica deposited on a support substrate, and a layer of silicon further provided on the insulator layer. It is also sometimes useful or advantageous to form diamond layers on support substrates. Diamonds advantageously exhibit electrical and thermal conductivity characteristics that are beneficial in semiconductor applications, for example, the ability to dissipate heat to avoid a build-up of heat on a wafer. A silicon layer can be further provided on the surface of the diamond layer to form a silicon-on-diamond (“SOD”) wafer, as disclosed in Processing Routes for Direct Bonding of Silicon to Epitaxially Textured Diamond, Diamond and Related Materials 12, 257 (2003) by S. D. Wolter et al.
Several processes and techniques for transferring semiconductor layers are also generally known. These include, for example, the layer transfer technique reported in Frontiers of Silicon-on-Insulator, J. Appl. Phys. 93, 4955 (2003) by G. K. Celler et al. and based on the “SMART-CUT®” technology of Soitec S. A., which is known to those skilled in the art and descriptions of which can be found in a number of works dealing with wafer reduction techniques, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,564. In the SMART-CUT® process, atomic species, such as ions, are implanted in a donor wafer to create a region of weakness therein before bonding of a receiving substrate to the donor wafer. After bonding, the donor wafer splits or is cut at the region of weakness. What is obtained therefore is, on the one hand, a donor wafer, stripped of a layer of its structure, and, on the other hand, a wafer comprising, bonded together, a removed thin layer of the donor wafer and the receiving substrate.
It is also known that a region of weakness can alternatively be formed in a wafer by forming a porous layer therein using the method known as ELTRAN® by Canon, described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,100,166. Additionally, various bonding techniques are generally known and include the method described in the reference entitled “Semiconductor Wafer Bonding: Science and Technology” (Interscience Technology) by Q. Y. Tong, U. Gösele and Wiley.
Thus, there is a need for a more efficient method of manufacturing a wafer that includes a diamond layer such that the wafer advantageously incorporates the desired heat dissipation properties of the diamond layer.